HIV positive, Who has a right to know ?

last SG · 2008-12-11T09:48:14+00:00

Most of us have this notion of "healthy is golden", and when we see people who are unwell, we naturally shun them. Yes, the word is fear. We fear getting inf...

Fatum SG

excerpt from asiaone

She also does not want to find out who infected her, telling Her World, "What's the point? The most important this is that I've moved on."

The strong-willed teenager managed to secure a sales job at a company where no one knows about her illness and she has a doting boyfriend by her side. "He's in his 30s and I told him about my condition very early on. It surprised me that he still accepted me." The couple lead a normal life but are very careful when they have protected sex.

http://www.divaasia.com/article/1098

this, and another recent article, about this infected kid in primary school telling his father not to tell the school he's HIV positive,got me thinking ....

does the individual's right to privacy, his right to protect him or herself from discrimination, persecution, or ridicule because of his HIV status, supersedes the public's safety ? .... the public's need to protect themselves ? ....

brought to mind the case of greg louganis, the olympic diver who conked his head against the diving board at seoul 88', the doctor who attended to him didn't know, and did not take precaution to protect himself at all ....

now imagine a kid with HIV running around the school playground and falling down and hurting his leg .... and teachers running over, dabbing tissue paper over the graze ....

where does one's right privacy ends, and the public's rights begins ?

dumbdumb! SG

tough call..

i think it depends on the situation.. i feel, until singaporeans stop having the witch hunt mentality, then it will be safe for the infected to come clean with the public.

the problem now is, yea, the infected can come clean, and announce to the world, but everyone will start shunning him and ostracising him. until this mentality stops, then we can make another move forward, for the safety of the public.

Cool-gal SG

mmmm, ya lor..

i stil cannot accept..

im not discriminating them, just tat its a scary n incurable disease we're talking abt lor..

maskedangel SG

some things are meant to kept a secret. . . .

for this case, not . . . .

~N3RD~ SG

shhh...

cathykitty SG

considering the stigma... and the fact tt nt many pple get infected thru normal contact... i think there are cases when it's fine not to tell if the patient doesn't want to.

for the stories quoted, i think certain people in the boy's school shld be told, like the principal and vice principal... but dun need to tell the teachers... cos some young teachers may not know to handle the situation and may end up treating the child differently.

employers dun have to be told. i personally think that it's ok.

does anyone have statistics to share on how many pple have actually gotten infected by just being ard a HIV person, e.g. help the person clean a wound and kena infected?

i've actually heard that the virus dies very easily once it's outside the body... so unless a person has sex, shares needles, or suay suay kena from blood transfusion, it's highly unlikely that he or she will get the virus too.

in fact, i heard tt hepatitis is even more contagious than HIV. shld we start ostracising those patients too?

Sanjaykr SG

Cathy, i do agree with your words..

sam

maskedangel SG

if i remember correctly, the virus dies if exposed to air

Fatum SG

I guess the stats can be had via googling ... but I remember reading about this case of a child who got infected sharing a toothbrush ....

http://www.purebrush.com/clinicals_files/hiv2_asp.htm

but of course, none of us are doctors ....

why do you think the employer don't have to be told though ? .... don't you think employers have a right to know ? ....

cathykitty SG

mmmm, ya lor..

i stil cannot accept..

im not discriminating them, just tat its a scary n incurable disease we're talking abt lor..

actually, singaporeans quite jia lat... many pple jus discriminate agnst pple who have "taboo illnesses"...

apart from HIV, even a cancer patient also gets discriminated against. and we all know cancer is not spread by air... :/

when my mum had chemo and wore a cap, whenever we went to crowded eating places, i noticed tt some pple would avoid coming near us... or they wld try walk to further away fr us... even tho most other seats may be filled. they'd rather walk a longer way to share table wif other pple. especially true of middle aged to old aunties...

once an auntie shared a table wif us cos she had no choice. really no more seats left. but immediately, when one chair at another table was empty, she quickly walked over, to share the table wif others who were still there.

i tink it's time we try to gain more general knowledge on health. and maybe have more dramas abt health matters or smth. tt can help to slowly change the mentality on all the "incurable" diseases.

kopiosatu SG

why do you think the employer don't have to be told though ? .... don't you think employers have a right to know ? ....

if i'm gonna screw my employee, yes i need to know

if the job will be a health issue, yes.

otherwise its not really important to the employer

its like asking a clerk if he has diabetes.

cathykitty SG

I guess the stats can be had via googling ... but I remember reading about this case of a child who got infected sharing a toothbrush ....

http://www.purebrush.com/clinicals_files/hiv2_asp.htm

but of course, none of us are doctors ....

why do you think the employer don't have to be told though ? .... don't you think employers have a right to know ? ....

i tink they can be told if the person trusts his or her employer. but i dun believe tt it shld be forced. unless of course the person is a doctor... or working in occupations that may really endanger other pple if they keep quiet. in these cases, like for medical students, the person applying will be made to go for HIV screening. so even if dun tell, also the prospective employers will know.

i admit i'm more sympathetic towards pple who get ostracised... i tink since there is no evidence to suggest tt HIV patients pose threat to their coworkers in normal jobs... there is no need for them to reveal their status to their employers... if the employer really, really wants to know, i think the ball is in their court. they can always ask for hIV screening before hiring the person.

Fatum SG

if i'm gonna screw my employee, yes i need to know

if the job will be a health issue, yes.

otherwise its not really important to the employer

its like asking a clerk if he has diabetes.

I think it would be, any underlying health conditions may have a direct impact on a person's ability to perform his or her job.

it may sound callous to say so, but any underlying medical conditions may also impact on the person's productivity, and the company's costs, (think medical benefits for example). sure, you can finger a company as heartless and callous if the company decides not to employ an infected person (or, by the same corrollary, say, a person with a previous criminal conviction, say a sex offender), but then for the person to deliberately withhold the facts from a prospective employer, is wilful mis-information I feel ...

I can understand an infected person's desire not to be discriminated, or persecuted against, but I think it's selfish not to let the people around you, the people whom you come into contact with daily, know about your condition ...

like greg louganis for example ... I wonder how would any person live with themselves if they unwittedly infected someone else because they elected to keep the knowledge of their infection from others ...

the Bear SG

let's take this into other diseases..

like Hepatitis C...

who has a right to know?

thing is, the employer these days are hell bent on lowering whatever costs, even if it means the employee gets screwed over, they won't care..

like the case of the contracted tech guy whose company HR was insisting that he had high blood pressure when his reading from the medical checkup said his blood pressure was (get this) 110/70.. the report even mentioned that his pressure was good.. he had to fight his HR for his medical benefits to be reinstated..

so.. there.. i don't blame the girl for not telling the company when companies have basically tried to screw everyone...

back to things around, people have a right to know only if their own safety is compromised.. otherwise, the right to privacy prevails...

parn SG

Is HIV only transmitted through SEX?

Hmmm....how come so many HIV people around...and they are increasing in population!

dragg SG

a teenager with a boyfriend who is in his 30s?

Hwaimeng SG

Is HIV only transmitted through SEX?

Hmmm....how come so many HIV people around...and they are increasing in population!

parn u dont know ma.........

in singapore 1 person contact with HIV everyday

in the world

2 person is contact with HIV every 1 sec

dumbdumb! SG

let's take this into other diseases..

like Hepatitis C...

who has a right to know?

thing is, the employer these days are hell bent on lowering whatever costs, even if it means the employee gets screwed over, they won't care..

so.. there.. i don't blame the girl for not telling the company when companies have basically tried to screw everyone...

back to things around, people have a right to know only if their own safety is compromised.. otherwise, the right to privacy prevails...

as usual, the bear took the words right out of my mouth. =)

yes.. i agree.. until the witchhunt mentality stops - let's just remain as it is, only let other ppl know if their own safety is compromised. otherwise.. the right to privacy must prevail

dumbdumb! SG

actually, singaporeans quite jia lat... many pple jus discriminate agnst pple who have "taboo illnesses"...

apart from HIV, even a cancer patient also gets discriminated against. and we all know cancer is not spread by air... :/

i tink it's time we try to gain more general knowledge on health. and maybe have more dramas abt health matters or smth. tt can help to slowly change the mentality on all the "incurable" diseases.

ya. my mum keena that kinda treatment also. she has very sensitive skin, so one time in australia, she put this sunblock cream, and got chemical burnt on her face.. then one day she went to the bank, and this lady was critisizing her and refusing to go near her in the line. i wasn't around though. =( how's ur mum anyhow?

so ya, fatum, i guess, until u know how it feels to be a victim of a witch hunt, it's hard to understand why privacy is so important.

dragg SG

tough call..

i think it depends on the situation.. i feel, until singaporeans stop having the witch hunt mentality, then it will be safe for the infected to come clean with the public.

there is another concern. what if the infected not tell his potential partner his/her condition?